Garment



May 2, 1933- R. o. KENNEDY 1,906,616

GARMENT Filed May 1o, 1932 VA v i Z 441 d 4 /4 m /y/gy i in place.

Patented May 2, 1933- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RICHARD OAKLEY KENNEDY, OF TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CLUETT, PEABODY & C0., INC., OF TROY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK G ARMENT Application led May 10, 1932; Serial No. 610,336.

This invention relates to an improvement in garments or articles of Wearing apparel, p

and more particularly to the collarportions of collar-attached shirts.

4Collar-attached shirts commonly are provided with a single button upon the collar portion which is depended upon to hold this portion and the upper part of the shirt Loss of this one button therefore makes the shirt practically unfit for wear and thereupon the shirt must b'e discarded until a new button can be sewed on. Furthermore, shirts of this character often Wear most rapidly along the edge of the collar, so that where economy is desired, the collar often is turned. When this is done, the neck-band ordinarily is detached from the body portion of the shirt and reversed. It is then necessary to make a new buttonhole and place the button upon the opposite end of the reversed collar band. Accordin ly considerable effort and painstaking ne lework is required in thus reversing the collar to permit the wearer to obtain the maximum wear from the shirt.

The present invention is effective in permitting the ready reversal of the attached collar without the necessity for providing an additional buttonhole and furthermore permits the ready securing of the collar in place if the original button should be lost. To permit these desirable results, I afford a buttonhole at each end of the neckband, one of these buttonholes being located under the conventional button upon the collar portion of the shirt.V Accordingly, if the button should be lost, an ordinary detachable collar button may be inserted through the registering buttonhol'es at opposite ends of the neckband to hold the collar portion of the shirt in closed position. Furthermore, if the collar is reversed or turned, the buttonhole which originally was under the button secured to the shirt is in a position to receive a new button attached by the person turning the collar, thus avoiding the necessity for making a new butt-onhole by hand.

Preferably the button is secured by a thread looped around the stitching o r bars upon opposite sides of the buttonhole and assing through openings in the button. Thus the buttonhole is held closed by the thread which secures the button in place and is partly concealed by the button so that it is in relatively inconspicuous position. Furthermore, the buttonhole stitching affords a strong reinforcement of this portion of the fabric and permits the firm securing of the thread loop in place. Thus there is little possibility of the button being pulled away from the fabric due to tearing of the same, and the possibility of the loss of this button is substantially reduced.

In lthe accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a collarattached shirt constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the `collar portion of such a shirt with the collarin its normal position;

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view showing the collar in its turned or reversed position;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the collar portion of the shirt with the collar turned up;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the button has been relloved and the collar portion reversed; an

Fig. 6 is a section indicated by line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, and more particularly to Fig. l, numeral 1 designates a shirt having an attached collar 2 connected to the body portion of the shirt by a neckband 4. Below the collar portion this shirt may be provided with conventional buttonhole strip 3 at its front, which receives buttons 17V secured to the customary button mounting strip 7 (Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 2, the upper margin of the body portion 1l is stitched to the neckband 4 by stitching 5, the neckband comprising an inner ply 4a and two `outer plies 4b. The upper edges of these plies are secured by stitching 6 to the collar 2 which comprises outer plies 2a and an inner ply 2*. It is of course understood that this arrangement is common in collar-attached shirts.

Fig. 3 illustrates the position which the A parts of the collar portion, i. e., the plies of the neckband and collar, assume when the collar is turned or reversed due to wear. In this position of the parts the single pl 2b of the collar is located outwardly of the oubleA plies 2a, while the single ply 4a of the neckband ortion is located outwardly of the body portion l and the double plies 4b are 'located inwardly of this body portion so that the inner of these two plies will contact the neck of the wearer. V It is evident that the collar may be reversed, i. e., changed from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3, by removal of the stitching 5 (Fig.

2) and its replacement with new stitching 5a.

Thus it is not necessary to interfere with the structure of the collar portion itself but merely to detach this portion from the body of the shirt and to secure it in reversed relation thereto.

In accordance with the present invention, as shown more particularly in Figs. 4 and 6, buttonholes 10 and 11 are similarly located at opposite ends of the collar band 4, adjoining the strip 3 and mounting 7 respectively. These buttonholes extend substantially transversely of the adjoining strip 3 and mounting 7. A button 12 is secured over the buttonhole l1 to engage the buttonhole 10 when the shirt is worn in its normal manner. The buttonhole 11 is provided with the conventional stitching 14 (Fig. 6) and the button 12 is secured over the buttonhole by a threaded loop 15 which extends through openings 16 in the button and extends around the button- A hole threads adjoining the outer end of the buttonhole. The stitching or bars of the buttonhole effectively reinforce the fabric plies 'of the neckband 4 which receive the threaded loop 15 and the latter is effective in holding the end portion of the buttonhole to which it is applied closed so that gapping of the buttonhole is substantially prevented.

In use a shirt having a buttonI and buttonhole arrangement of the character disclosed herein may be worn in the conventional manner, the row of buttons 17 along the front of the shirt and the upper button 12 being buttoned in the usual manner, i. e., the button 12 being engaged in the buttonhole 10. Should the button 12 be 10st,'however, a conventionall collar kbutton may be inserted through the registering buttonholes 10 and 11 and permit wearing of the shirt without necessity for immediate replacement of the lost button.

If it is desirable to turn th`e collar of the shirt, the stitches 5 may be removed and the collar band reversed in relation to the up er portion of the body portion, as shown in ig. 2, and the stitches 51 employed to secure the collar portion in its reversed position. Thus, as shown in Fig. 6, the relative position of the buttonholes 10 and 11 will be reversed.v

The button 12 may then be removed and a new button secured to the opposite end of the neckband over or adjoining' the buttonhole 10 to engage the buttonhole 11 which was previously under the original buttonV 12.

Thus turning of the collar may be effected' with the minimum of effort.

It is evident that I have provided an arrangement permitting the ready employment of a collar button to secure the neck portion of a collar-attached shirt in place even should the ordinary button be lost from this portion of the shirt and, furthermore, that this arrangement facilitates the reversal of the collar should wear make this desirable, as well as assuring more firm retention of the original button in place.

I claim:

1. Article of wearing apparel, comprising a fabric neckband and a collar, buttonholes disposed at opposite ends of the neckband and extending entirely therethrough, marginal stitching surrounding said buttonholes, said buttonholes being arranged substantially to register when the article is being worn, a button mounted over one of the buttonholes and a thread loop enclosing that buttonhole and the marginal stitching on both sides thereof to hold said button in place, the marginal stitching being effective in affording a reinforcement for the fabric to aid in retaining the button in `place, whereby upon loss or removal of the utton the buttonholes register to receive a collar button in either their original or reversed position, and whereby the neckband is provided with a ready-made buttonhole to receive a button if the collar is reversed.

2. A garment of the class described, comprising a body having an edge portion with a row of buttons thereon and an opposite overlapping edge portion with a row of registering buttonholes, a neckband secured to the body-portion, a reversible collar on the neckband, the latter having a buttonhole at one of its ends extending entirely therethrough, said buttonhole being substantially aligned with the row of buttons, the neckband having a buttonhole at its op posite end substantially in line with the row of buttonholes, each of said buttonholes being provided with marginal stitching, a button mounted over the first-named buttonhole upon the neckband, and a thread loop securing said button to the neckband, said loop enclosing the buttonhole and tending to hold it closed and extending around the marginal stitching on both sides of the buttonhole, whereby said reinforcement aids in holding the button in place.

Signed by me at Troy, New York, this sixth day of May 1932.

vRICHARD OAKLEY KENNEDY. 

